Oct 12 - Acrylic Art Demonstration Painting in Stages

I'm headed out this evening to do a demonstration painting in acrylics for the Corona Art Association, and I wanted you to see this one develop in stages. Here's the first cover, done in the studio so I can talk and not think about composition as I start. (Yes, I'm taking the timer along with me! Every ten minutes I'll take another image and post a blog on that stage of the painting.)

The under painting on this 16 x 20 is done with a mix of cad orange and sap green, with a touch of thalo blue thrown in. I know it is going to be a Cool Box painting, so I put in a warm under painting, in case some of that shows through. If you look earlier in my blog (Sept 21-26), you'll see another painting in stages which is similarly done. This one, however, is in a different atmosphere, and won't have much of the mist on it. I used one of those rubber-tipped "brushes" to make the marks of the drawing so I know the basic location of the coming shapes. I also spritzed it with alcohol mist when the paint was wet enough to react to it. Makes an interesting visual texture, even though most of it will be lost in the coming layers.

I'm looking forward to seeing how it will develop, although I can almost "feel" it finished in my mind. The canvas is now packed in the Honda Fit along with my art supplies and DVDs for the evening demo.

The source image for this demonstration tonight is below, and is from my recent trip to the White Mountains. I hope you'll enjoy how it develops and my writing about why I make the changes I do. Let's enjoy our time together as this one develops over the next several days!

On another front... the painting that I revised on October 7th SOLD at the opening, along with eight other artists' works. So even though some of you were divided in your comments about its changes, it is now in someone's collection, so no revisions are possible! ( The 7x5 picnic bench is still there... sort of glad it hasn't sold.)

The newest DVD on the Color System is HERE.
You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2010 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Oct 10 - The Best One

Here's the painting--a tiny 7 x 5 acrylic, and I just love it. The photograph doesn't show the subtle light grays in the mid ground, but it does show the variations on the lichen-covered rocks and vegetation in the foreground. Why do I love it? Memory reinforcement. This is a recreation of the memory I shared with you yesterday, and it is what makes artists who we are. We live, feel, and then it comes out of our brushes to visual results.

I don't want to sell this one, and almost pulled it from the four that are in Pinetop. But I realize that in making art, the sharing of the paintings is part of the connection I have to humanity. So these ones that are so meaningful to me must go on to others.

The underpainting didn't speak of what was coming, did it? The vision was in my head of what it would be... that's the hopeful optimism of an artist! And doing it is the practice that all artists must pursue to be able to effectively convey his or her vision.

The good news is that the workshop in November is now full, but I am taking a couple for wait listing. I won't have another workshop until March of next year, so this is a great time to get a snoot full of Color System! All have their supplies lists and I'm looking forward to teaching face-to-face (versus online courses at the college).

I do have a demonstration coming up on October 12 at Corona's Art Association. This will be at the Corona Heritage Park and Museum, at 510 Foothill Parkway in Corona. I'll have my new DVD there and will be painting a misty light painting in acrylics. I know the subject matter will be from my recent trip! Hope to see you there, or at the Temecula demo the following week on the 19th.

Did you notice that today is "10-10-10"? As dates go, this doesn't happen all that often. We get it for the first twelve years of a new decade. Then it is gone again, for 100 years. Wouldn't it be nifty to have been born on one of these unique dates?

Congratulations to new collector Shannon Hennigan of Penn Valley, California for her purchase of "In the Park", a 6x6 oil.

You can see my entire blog HERE.My workshop schedule for 2010 is HERE.Color System information can be found HERE.If you need to email me directly, please click here.